FCI-Standard No 139 / 02. 04. 2001 / GB
IRISH TERRIER
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN : Ireland.
DATE OF PUBLICATION OF THE ORIGINAL VALID STANDARD : 13.03.2001.
UTILISATION: Versatilefarmyard dog, family pet, guard dog with utter contempt for danger or hurt, hunter and gundog.
CLASSIFICATION FCI : Group 3 Terriers.
Section 1 Large and medium-sized Terriers.
Without working trial.
The dog’s reputation for getting into scraps with others, sometimes even in the showring, is undeserved. Though the terrier may be fierce when the circumstances call for it, the Irish Terrier is easily trained and a gentle pet, living up to his early description as “the poor man’s sentinel, the farmer’s friend and the gentleman’s favourite”.
CRANIAL REGION
Skull : Flat and rather narrow between the ears, getting slightly narrower towards the eyes.
Stop : Hardly visible except in profile.
Nose: Must be black.
Lips : Should be well fitting and externally almost black in colour.
Jaw : Must be strong and muscular, of good punishing length.
Teeth :Should be strong, level, free from canker and the top incisors slightly overlapping the lower.
Cheeks : Not too full. There should be a slight falling away below the eye so as not to have a Greyhound appearance.
Eyes : Should be dark in colour, small, not prominent and full of life, fire and intelligence. A yellow or light eye is most objectionable.
Ears : Small and V-shaped, of moderate thickness, set well on the head and dropping forward closely to the cheek. The top line of the folded ear should be well above the level of the head.
An ear hanging by the side of the head, like a hound’s, is not characteristic of the Terrier, while an ear which is semi-erect, is even more undesirable. The hair on the ear should be short and darker in colour than that on the body.
Back : Should be strong and straight, with no appearance of slackness behind the shoulders.
Loin : Muscular and very slightly arched. A bitch may be slightly longer in couplings than a dog.
Chest :Deep and muscular but neither full nor wide. Ribs fairly sprung, rather deep than round and well-ribbed back.
Shoulders : Must be fine, long and sloping.
Elbows : Working freely clear of the sides.
Forearm : Moderately long perfectly straight with plenty of bone and muscle.
Pasterns :Short and straight, hardly noticeable.
Thighs : Powerful.
Stifles : Moderately bent.
Hocks : Near ground
Feet : Should be strong, tolerably round and moderately small, toes arched and neither turned out nor in, black toenails most desirable. Pads sound and free from cracks or corny excrescence.
HAIR: Should be dense and wiry in texture, having a broken appearance but still lying flat, the hairs growing so closely and strongly together that when parted with the fingers, the skin cannot be seen, free of softness and silkiness and not so long as to hide the outlines of the body, particularly in the hindquarters and free of lock or curl. Hair on face of same description as on body but short (about three-quarters of a centimetre long), almost smooth and straight, a slight beard is the only long hair (and it is only long in comparison with the rest) that is permissible and is characteristic. A “goats” beard is suggestive of there being silky and bad
hair running through the coat generally.
Legs : Free of feather and covered, like the head, with as hard a texture of coat as body but not so long.
Height at the withers : Approximately 18 inches (45.5cm).
Weight : Dogs 27lbs (12.25kg).
Bitches 25lbs (11.4kg).
· Aggresive or overly shy.
· Nose : Any colour other than black.
· Jaws : Decidedly undershot or overshot.
· Colour :Any other than red, yellow red or red wheaten. A small patch of white on chest is permissible as in other whole-coloured breeds.
· Feet : Corny excrescence or cracks on pads.
Any dog clearly showing physical or behavioural abnormalities shall be disqualified.
N.B. Male animals should have two apparently normal testicles fully descended into the scrotum.